How running re-wires your brain to be better

Why did you start running? Ask any avid plodder why they keep tying on the joggers and you'll see a variety of physical reasons: to lose weight, to compete in a charity race, to tell your friends you ran a marathon.

But it turns out that the greatest benefit of running has nothing to do with how you look, and everything to do with how you think.

Scientists from Arizona University have discovered that regular bouts of running actually re-wires your brain to be better at complex tasks, like playing a musical instrument or remembering all the names of characters in Game of Thrones.

The reason why, speculate researchers David Raichlen and Gene Alexander, is because running allows your brain to enter a type of "meditative state" that improves the "functional connectivity" between regions.

To put that simply, when you run you can effectively turn your brain off – a rare chance in a world of constant emails, social media updates and time schedules – because your only focus is to put one foot in front of the other in the hope you don’t stack it.

And because running (or really, any type of exercise that gets your heart pumping) improves blood flow around the brain, you're also boosting the ability of neurons to fire and repair themselves.

Of course, the researchers are quick to point out that a few laps around the block is not going to make you the next Mozart – but it may stave off degenerative cognitive diseases like Alzheimer's.

"One of the key questions that these results raise is whether what we're seeing in young adults — in terms of the connectivity differences — imparts some benefit later in life," says Alexander in a media statement.

"The areas of the brain where we saw more connectivity in runners are also the areas that are impacted as we age, so it really raises the question of whether being active as a young adult could be potentially beneficial and perhaps afford some resilience against the effects of aging and disease."

Running is paradoxically the most overrated and least underappreciated form of exercise there is.

It truly isn't the best way to drop kilos (in fact you may end up eating more to compensate for all of those kilometres), but it's completely free, accessible to almost everyone and easy to study in research.

In October, researchers discovered that going for a run after learning something new actually helps you to remember it later – a sort of "brain plug" that's handy for students cramming for exams.

And, if you did that same run in bare feet you may gain an even greater benefit in your ability to memorise information, mostly because your brain soaks up all the feedback coming through your soles.

The trouble is, because running is so ingrained in our heads as the way to lose weight – the old "I'll just run off those donuts" mentality – it also carries the highest risk of injury.

It's estimated that a staggering 70 percent of people who take up running end up injured in the first couple of months, through a combination of poor technique and over-zealous training programs.

If you're not a natural runner - or get shin splints at the mere sight of a starting gun – then you can relax: the researchers say it's highly likely that the same benefit could be taken from any repetitive cardiovascular activity, like cycling or rowing.

"These activities that people consider repetitive actually involve many complex cognitive functions — like planning and decision-making — that may have effects on the brain," says Raichlen.